A few random Monday morning thoughts, posted Sunday night:<\/p>\n
1. I’ve generally been in the “no election” camp over the past two years whenever the “THE GOVERNMENT IS ABOUT TO FALL!!!” speculation has started up time and time and time<\/em> again.<\/p>\n But, it’s really looking like the moment of truth has finally arrived. I think it’s safe to say Harper’s ridiculous crime threat<\/a> is going nowhere but, listening to the leaders this weekend, I don’t see any way for the Afghanistan extension to pass. I just get the sense that the stakes are too high – both politically and for Canada – for anyone to compromise. Now, this might very well mean the budget gets rushed to ensure the Tories fall on it first but, I would be surprised if this government lives to see April.<\/p>\n 2. Looking back at the first week of the Alberta election, it’s hard to deny it’s been a rocky week <\/a>for Stelmach – in the words of ES<\/a>: “Memo to the Premier’s Staff: Don’t take him “on the road” to make announcements unless you’re 100% sure that the people who are present in the room will think the announcements are a *good* thing. You look like amateurs right now, and you’re making your boss look like a fool in front of the cameras.” <\/em>It’s no wonder Ed went into hiding this weekend.<\/p>\n And while I do think Taft has looked Premierial (what’s the provincial equivalent of “Prime Ministerial” anyways?) so far, I am a bit concerned about the number of promises he’s making every day. The “(insert city here) agendas<\/em>” are a good idea, but the risk is always that you’ll get portrayed as “tax and spend Liberals”. Talking about being fiscally conservative and tossing out a few democratic reform ideas would probably net more votes than the wide range of spending promises we’ve seen so far. The kind of changes Kevin talked about in Democracy Derailed <\/a>wouldn’t cost much and go to the argument that the Tories have been corrupted by power – hopefully the focus shifts over to those sorts of promises shortly.<\/p>\n So, I’ll reluctantly give NDP leader George Mason<\/a> props for his plan to ban corporate and union donations. Especially since the NDP would be hurt a lot<\/em> by the loss of the union donations.<\/p>\n 3. Congrats to Daveberta <\/a>on the trio of Canadian Blog Awards <\/a>he picked up. As the runner up for two awards, I certainly don’t mind losing to Dave, if only because it likely pissed off half the Tory war room. And a big thanks to everyone who voted for Calgary Grit!<\/p>\n 4. Voting is now open in the Liblogs video contest<\/a>.<\/p>\n